Short-haul flights account for 45 percent of air trips starting or ending in Germany
Clean Energy Wire
Almost one in two passenger planes landing or starting in Germany is on a short-haul flight. 652,000 short-haul passenger flights covering a distance of up to 1,000 kilometres accounted for 45 percent of all 1.5 million passenger flights in 2025, according to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office Destatis.
Short-distance flight trips are particularly at risk of cancellations if fuel stocks run out as a result of the Iran war, Destatis said. "Due to the global kerosene shortage, many flights could be cancelled in the near future – particularly short-haul flights"
Four in five short-haul flights starting or landing in Germany were international trips in 2025. At the start of this year, the number of short-haul passenger flights was three percent lower than in the first quarter of last year, Destatis said.
The most popular short-distance connection to one of Germany’s major airports in 2025 was between Frankfurt am Main and London Heathrow, amounting to 11,000 flights. This was followed by domestic flights between Frankfurt and Berlin Brandenburg (just under 11,000 flights), between Munich and Frankfurt (10,700 flights), and between Frankfurt and Hamburg (10,300 flights).
In the European Union as a whole, air travel was the main mode of transport for 48 percent of all holiday trips abroad that involved at least one overnight stay in 2024, according to Eurostat data. However, for domestic holidays that included one or more overnight stays, air travel was the main mode of transport for only two percent of EU citizens.
Aviation is one of the world’s most polluting sectors. In 2024, a working group on climate-neutral aviation in Germany made up of government officials and industry representatives called for a clear commitment by politicians and industry to the sustainable aviation fuel market ramp-up, and other key measures to cut the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions.